April 7, 2017 2:53 PM

Reacting to news of US strike launched overnight on a Syrian air base in Homs with 59 Tomahawk missiles. in response to the alleged use of Sarin gas by the Syrian government in Idlib Province earlier in the week, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Péter Szijjártó called renewed cooperation between the United States and Russia.

“The Syrian conflict cannot be resolved without an American-Russian accord, but this is what we are currently furthest away from,” Minister Szijjártó told reporters on Friday, April 7. Szijjártó emphasized that Hungary, Europe, and Russia’s most important task remains the global fight against terrorism, the success of which cannot be achieved without the resolution of the Syrian conflict.

“It is in the interests of Hungary, Europe, and I believe the whole world for an American-Russian accord to come into being as soon as possible on resolving the situation in Syria. However (…) it would not be overly pessimistic to state that this is what we are currently furthest away from in view of the events of recent years,” said Szijjártó. The Minister also emphasized Hungary’s firm rejection of the use of chemical weapons in the strongest possible terms and “can only express its hope that nothing similar happens again in future”.